#43. Videogames I Hate and Why

As I daydream myself as a future videogame developer (which would be too future if I keep myself as I am now) I keep asking some things to myself, and one of them is: What kind of videogame do I want to make? My drafts show me that I am far from certain to answer that question, but au contraire, they show me that I am ready answer the opposite of the question, as in: What kind of videogame do I not want to make?

This is very personal stuff, but ever since I got my smartphones and found that there are many videogames in mobile platforms, the first thing I learned was to hate some mobile videogames. I won't explicitly name those games, but at least I can elaborate which aspects of the games did I find so revolting, and they are:

Auto-Whatever. I know people these days are too busy to spare time for videogames, I experience the same thing now that I am properly hired and all. However, that does not justify the "Auto Battle" button on the screen, which turns the videogame into a video, and not a game. I mean, what good is a videogame if all you do is just letting the game doing everything on its own, and watching the progress done without you? The first time I saw the feature in one of those kinds of game which allows the game dungeon crawl on its own I nearly swore out loud. I'd rather watch a decent film or some TV series than playing, no, letting the game play itself. You know what, I don't want to call it a game at all, I want to call it demos with a choice or two.

Over 9000... and Beyond? Maybe because I am a tabletop roleplayer myself, but I find numbers in recent videogames a bit too large, and for some reasons the game wants to constantly brag of how great their numbers are. Although I know that the percentage calculations and stuffs are much easier and more elaborate on bigger numbers, I am rather doubtful if it is a good thing to get entertained at millions and billions of numbers that are achieved too easily. Personally I prefer smaller numbers, which reminds me that the difference between one and two can be a matter of life or death. Many roguelike games, and recently Darkest Dungeons showed me the thrills of small numbers.

Pay to Win. I'm not a big spender, but if it means some fine-quality videogames, I am more than happy to spend some cash. Why is this simple yet perfectly reasonable idea lost on so many videogames, as they force players keep spending money on something that is supposed to be free? I don't win every time I play, but if I would win, I want to win all by my own decisions and skills, not by cash-purchased, overpowered items and stuffs. Life is already capitalist enough; I don't want such extensions of competitive money-spending race when I want to let out some steam with my videogames.

Wheel... of... Misfortunes! When I pay like a dollar for, say, a bar of chocolate, I want nothing more than a chocolate. Nowhere in real life I have to place my wage on some kind of roulette, which dispenses maybe a bar of chocolate, maybe a bit of chocolate, and maybe a bar of chocolate with the Golden Ticket in it (if my surname is Bucket, maybe). If I want to buy Item X, I want nothing more than X, and I do not want to gamble on that. Some might say that it's more thrilling that way, but I find it rather disturbing, especially since I hear news that some devs are actually meddling with the roulette tables.

If I was a full-time videogame developer, this would have helped me with my game-making progress. As an inept intern in a company that has nothing to do with videogame development (although I am rather happy with my work) this is little more than a rant on videogames I don't like. Well, gotta grow up. End transmission.

Weirdo Whoever Plays D&D: Warlocks

So yeah, another WWPD&D article. I was writing things as much as I could, partly because this is one of the few hobbies I've ever got, but also because now that I started publishing my works online, I thought I could take advantage on this rather obscure article to let myself known to the world. Why? But hey, why not?

This article, "Warlocks", is all about warlocks. New archetypes and new invocations. Well, actually it's new archetypes and old invocations, revised in 5th-edition format, but let's not dig too deep on that, shall we?

The WWPD&D document "Warlocks" can be found here.

The entire WWPD&D documents can be found here.

Weirdo Whoever Plays D&D: Companions

I won't explain very much, but after all these times I've been making homebrew stuffs for Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, and I tell you, things are getting out of hands. Not that I'm doing bad at stuffs, but for the last, what, eight months? I made like dozens of homebrew materials, both finished and unfinished, and is still counting to the point that I thought, hey, maybe I really need to do something on my own.

Then I came across this awesome template that allows me to make my own Unearthed Arcana-style documents, presented by none other than Wizards of the Coast themselves. Awesome jobs, WotC. So I just finished my first document, and named it, rather poorly: Weirdo Whoever Plays D&D, or WWPD&D for short.

I started with something simple, benchmarking others' works and even some official works from previous editions. (Uncredited in the document, but great thanks to my DM from previous campaigns, who gratefully lended his Complete Arcane.) The first WWPD&D document, "Companions", is based on the Animal Companion feature from the revised ranger class.

I'll be dong this stuff from now on. For now, it's not too much, but hey, just like the not-so-good man with a big smile in his face once said, "Wait 'til the get a load of me."

The WWPD&D document "Companions" can be found here.

The entire WWPD&D documents can be found here.

#42. Life, The Universe, and Everything... In Wiki?

Fourty-second post, guyz. Fourty-seven posts of delusions and pen-scribblings that did nothing for my career or anything, but then, not everything in this world is supposed to be profitable twenty-four-seven, is it?

So I have been busy these days, which surprises myself as much as anyone that knows me in a way or two. For starters, I got a job, which means stable income, with less time. Well, mostly less time, because once you get the hang of how you can split time you have like double the time you are supposed to have. Once I get used to my new job I would definitely route some of my spare time to do something that finally makes myself useful.

I have been doodling stuffs in D&D Wiki these days, starting early this year. The handle name is pretty much the same, and I have been rather... zealous on some things. Tabletop roleplaying games are awesome, people. I am DMing a campaign myself, with my usual, ambitious delusions to back up.

So I was working on some original works as well as some "derivative" or downright fanworks as well. Who knows, maybe you can find some online. Which, by the way, will embarrass me like nothing else.

So yeah, just thought I have to at least update my status once in a while. Gotta roll, I have slept like four hours. End transmission.

#41. Resources in JRPG

So I've been busy, especially after I was hired. It's just an intern, but it's still a job, yesno? Anyway, hired or not, I'm still a delusional daydreamer I used to be (and I don't think this will ever change) so here's another bullshit I've got to share with you. If you're there, that is.

One thing I really hated about JRPG as much I liked is the resource system, your typical, good ol' MP (Magic Point) system. The idea can't be simpler than this: You have a limited points which you use to use your skills. You regain a number of spent points with certain items or a good night's sleep or so. The reason I hate this catch-all system is that it somewhat limits the potentiall of all characters and skills, especially when you are running a long dungeon run. Chances are, you will preserve everyone's MP as much as you could, clinging on relatively weak default attacks (which often require no MP spend) until you face the boss, where you spend every single point of MP upon it. This may sound fair, but the frustration of MP starvation kinda gets in my nerve.

I recently play more of real-time videogames and tabletop roleplaying games, especially Heroes of the Storm and Dungeons and Dragons, and both games gave me some good ideas to improve my favorite videogame genre. I'm drawing inspiration from other games such as League of Legends, which I used to play as well few years ago. So here are some ideas on the "re-take" of JRPG resource system:

The problem of conventional MP system is, you don't get much chance to replenish it, and all characters share a single trigger for it. It's easier to develop and build, yes, but strategy-wise, it's getting rather old, and it somewhat makes characters identical, which is one of the reason JRPG is dying these days. So my re-take would focus on giving more opportunities to regain spent MP.

Rage. Barbarians from Diablo III (and Sonya from Heroes of the Storm), Fighters from World of Warcraft, and some champions from League of Legends use this particular resources. Basically, you regain a small number of rage every time you hit someone or you are hit by someone, but your rage will start depleting if you spend too much time being peaceful. This greatly increases the combat stamina because you don't need to stay out of battle waiting for your mana to replenish, but you will have to risk yourself by keep fighting for this stamina. This will work great with a decent fighter-type character, who won't need to recharge his/her "magical energy" to swing a sword, and will sustain oneself longer in the prolonged battle compared to squishy wizards.

Skill Momentum. It's not much of a "replenishing" than "saving", but this still counts. Basically, if you're going to spend a number of MP every time you use a skill, you'll get some "refund" by regaining a relatively smaller number of MP every time you do so. This will make a good skill spammer-type character, whose shtick is not relying on a single strong blow, but a weaker skill jabs that will keep enemies occupied.

Quick Rest. This attempt has been increased a lot these days, but I'll write this anyway. You have an extra skill that spends no MP and replenishes a large chunk of spent MP when used, at a cost of one full turn. In order to avoid abusing issues, this skill may have a limited number of uses per combat. This will work well with nuker-style characters, who will unleash a killing blow at one go and must stay low while he/she "reloads" the magical capability.

Choose Your Own Resources. This is a new take on "one character, one resources" type. Your character can choose which type of resources he/she will use during downtime. This means that a fighter can use Skill Momentum-type resource to utilize skill-based bruising or Quick Rest-type resource for one, big hit, a wizard can use Rage-type resources for battle mage-type brawling, and so forth. Since some type of skills work too well with some type of resources, maybe some skills will have reduced effect when used on a certain type of resources. The fastest idea I can have is that Skill Momentum resource will greatly reduce the effect of all skills, keeping up the spamming gimmick.

So that's it for now. I'm having some sleep deprivation these days, what with interns and all. Gotta put on my clown mask and rob a bank or two. End transmission.

#40. Real Time Tactics Idea

While I'm at it, here is an idea that kept circulating 'round my brain for some time:

So I wasn't a big fan of real-time strategy genre, mostly because my brain and fingers are not fast enough for that genre. (One of the reason I still enjoy Age of Empires II is because its pace is slow enough for me.) Then I was introduced with turn-based tactics genre, which is basically RTS minus all the buildings and tech tree stuffs. That sounded fun, but unfortunately there were not many games for it. So I decided, hey, maybe I can come up with some idea. So the brainstorming is something like this:

- I liked how Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, and Heroes of the Storm focused on mission objectives rather than mindless killfest. Yes, you have to eliminate your enemies during your missions, but in most cases, they are not the key point to your victory. You have to either secure a certain location or object, or activate some features on the map to push your way through victory. I think it's time for RTT and RTS genre to adopt this.

- Since RTT genre skips base building procedures, resources are pretty much obsolete. However, I still think resources could be useful in two ways: (a) it could be used as a mission objective (as in: "Collect 200 resources and deliver 'em to the center of the map") and (b) it could be used for some in-game upgrades, which grants flexibility for strategy. The traditional resource gathering mechanics is good, yes, but I think there could be more variations in resources as well. Maybe resources can be provided like Health Packs in FPS games.

- I think I can make good uses from some MOBA features, especially brush. Basically a brush is an environmental feature than conceals units from outer detection. In RTS genre, this is not very useful because you're controlling many units at a time. In RTT genre, however, this could be utilized as an important strategical feature.

- You have to configure loadouts for your squad at waiting room, just like you do in Team Fortress 2 and Dirty Bomb. First you choose your faction, then your "Commander" or "HQ" feature that determines the specific strategy for your units from your faction. I've come up with some sample factions and HQ features, heavily benchmarked from Starcraft and Warcraft series:

• Tribes: Local aliens of the planet. Average units, both in quality and quantity. Is the only faction that can use resources to build constructions for protection, sightkeeping, and defense.
• Builder: Focuses on turtling. More variety and upgrades for buildings.
• Hunter: Focuses on guerilla tactics. Faster and longer-ranged units, gains access to a type of building that enables fast unit transportation.

• Broods: Another local aliens of the planet. Horde units, very weak but immense in quantity. Has a "queen" that is greatly stronger than the rest of the units. Queen can use resources to create "minions", but you can only control a limited number of minions at a time.
• Broodmother: Focuses on even more hordes. Utilizes "nanny" that creates and maintains additional minions.
• Matriarch: Focuses on stronger units. More upgrades for minions and the queen, especially the queen.

• Visitors: A human expedition that has come to an alien planet for "frontier" purpose. Elite units, very powerful but small in quantity (4 or 5, at maximum). Comes with a spaceship that can slowly move across the map to provide additional sight, but cannot attack. Can use resources to call upon additional support from spaceship, either additional personnel or other supplies.
• Explorer: Focuses on scout and securing objects. Faster units, faster spaceship.
• Conquerer: Focuses on combat. Even stronger units, spaceship is slower but provides wider sight.

Well, that's it for now. End transmission.

#39. Videoludo en Esperanto

Saluton! Mi estas Ŭierdo, kaj mi amas videoludo! (Mi bedaŭras, sed mia Esperanto ne estas tre bona...)

So yeah, the moment I've heard of Esperanto I was fascinated at the very idea of it. Universal language! For world peace! No irregular verbs! It was this close before it finally become the universal language! (Curse you, World War II.) I already speak three languages, and I'm having a hard time learning the fourth (as I proved myself with French), but for Esperanto, I think I could push myself further than I would normally do.

What I find very frustrating is, however, that there are not much entertainments in Esperanto to enjoy. From my experience, the fastest and easiest way to learn a language is by enjoying anything on that particular language. When I started learning Japanese when back in my early teenager life, I found great help from all those otaku materials I could get my hands on. (I use to say this a lot, but if you can speak English and Japanese, you're pretty much speaking Latin in geekdom.) But I find so little things, let alone entertainment materials, ever written or spoken in Esperanto. Not only this makes it harder for me to learn and use Esperanto, this also gives me less motivations for learning it, apart from my passion on it. I mean, why learn a language when you can hardly use it in real life?

That's why, ever since back in my military service life, I was thinking of a way to make something entertaining, something interesting, in Esperanto. And since I am a helpless videogame nut, I would definitely like to see a videogame in Esperanto. So here is my idea:

- I'm not a big fan of so-called "edutainment" games, since there are not many good examples that appealed to both learners (mostly younger players) and hardcore videogame fans. I was and still is a big fan of Age of Empires II, I learned half of what I know (and misunderstood, for that matter) of Medieval Ages from it, but I didn't even try to learn English from it. The point is, you don't exactly have to aim for learning languages in videogames. All you need to do is make it fun enough, then videogamers would voluntarily learn the language (or hyping for translation, but still).

- Dr. L. L. Zamenhof (also known as "D-ro Esperanto") had a clear vision when he created Esperanto: World peace through language. I greatly support his ideas, and want Esperanto to be the language that could deliver that particular message. I mean, Incubus (Inkubo) was already enough to give us false idea on Esperanto, I don't want anything like that.

- Here is an idea that I came up with when I first thought about making an Esperanto videogame. So there was this show called RESTOL Special Rescue Squad, which was otherwise your typical mecha-based anime... Except that in this show, the eponymous squad works for rescue missions, instead of typical combat missions. Now I'm not a big fan of mecha genre in general, but I was fascinated at the idea that uses rescue missions and keep things entertaining. The message was nicely delivered, and I thought it would make an awesome feat with Esperanto's vision. I made a quick brainstorming via Google Docs here, so if you're interested in my idea, please check it out.

Apparently I wasn't alone with this idea: I found more than enough articles that share the similar, and even the very same, thought with myself. A Kinja article that suggests Esperanto as the official language for videogame, a Reddit post that suggests videogame in Esperanto, and even a videogame developer that supports Esperanto. I hope, as a new Esperantisto (pun intended), that this dream comes true. End transmission.